Improvement in oil-cans



. L. 'GAL-LAU DET.

Patented Oct 6,'1874.

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PATENT OFFIon.

WILLIAM L. GALLAUDET, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN OIL-CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 155,607, dated October 6, 1874 application filed March 17, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. GALLAU- DET, of Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improved. Oil-Gan, of which the following is a specification My invention relates to certain improvements in oil-cans, whereby the flow of oil is regulated. at the pleasure of the person using the can, and is caused to flow in successive drops, instead. of a continuous stream.

The invention consists in a siphon attached to the inner end of the spout of the can, forming a trap, by means of which a vacuum is produced and maintained in the can, and the oil is prevented from flowing until pressure is applied lo the bottom of the can.

In the accompanying drawing, the can B is represented as of the ordinary construction, with the addition of a tube, 0, of uniform insidediameter throughout its length. The upper end of this tube is inserted in the spout b of the can, and secured thereto at a point a short distance from the outer end of said spout. The lower end of the tube 0 is bent upward, so as to form the short leg of a siphon, of which the upper end forms the long leg. Near the inner end of the bent portion or short leg is an orifice, d, of smaller diameter than that of .the tube.

If desirable, the ordinary spout of the can may be used with the trap and hole added.

When the can is filled with oil, and the spout and tube in the position shown in the drawing, the portion of the tube or siphon which is below the surface is of course filled with oil. When the canis turned with the spout downward, the oil in the short leg of the siphon remains there, while that in the long leg falls toward the end of the spout, leaving a partial vacuum between it and the short leg.

When the bottom of the can is pressed inward, the pressure is communicated to the oil in the spout, discharging it in drops, instead of streams, the size of the drops depending upon the size of the orifice d, which may be varied in different cans, according to the use to which the can is to be applied.

The siphon-tube C is. made of a rigid material, so that when suspended within the can the short leg of the siphon'will be parallel, or

nearly so, with the long leg, so that a quantity of oil is always present in the bent portion of the siphon, the efl'ect being that a vacuum is always present in the can, and the oil prevented from flowing until pressure is applied to the bottom or sides of the can.

The peculiar construction of the siphon specially adapts it as an article complete in itself, capable of being applied to most of the spouts of cans now in use.

The feature of making the orifice d of the inner end of the tube smaller than the spout, to regulate the flow of oil, is also applicable to spouts without the siphon.

It may be desirable in large cans to make more than one hole in order to prevent impurities in the oil from entering the tube, which might be the case if one large hole were made, while several small ones would prevent such a result.

I am aware that tubes have been combined with the spouts of oil-cans for supplying air to the interior as the oil is removed from the can; also, that flexible tubes have been suspendedwithin the body of oil-cans, said tubes .being provided with means for keeping the inner end of the tube upon the bottom or sides of the can for taking up the oil. Neither of such arrangements is my invention. v

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a can for holding oil, and a spout for delivering such oil, a siphon, the long leg of which connects with the spout of the can, and the perforated short leg with the interior thereof, to operate as set forth.

2. The tube 0, formed of a rigid material, with two legs of unequal length, said tube adapted to the spout of an oil-can, so that the portion inside the can will be out of contact with the bottom or sides thereof, substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

3. The tube 0, having the opening d at or near the top end of the short leg, in combination with a can having a delivery-spout, substantially as described.

WILLIAM L. GALLAUDET.

" Witnesses:

HOWARD R oHARDs, JAMES BEN Y. 

